


hold me down

by clawsnbeak



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam Parrish Is Trying His Best, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fainting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Ronan Lynch Loves Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish Fluff, Ronan takes care of Adam, Sick Adam Parrish, Soft Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-12 21:52:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19584532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clawsnbeak/pseuds/clawsnbeak
Summary: Adam faints because it was bound to happen.Ronan freaks out because that was bound to happen as well.





	hold me down

**Author's Note:**

> this story references [a post](https://saywhatjessie.tumblr.com/post/170102242420/wildlyannoyingdoofus-these-kinds-of-responses) that has been going around tumblr so check it out!

“Parrish.”

“Parrish?”

“Adam!”

Adam crumbled to the floor right before Ronan’s eyes. It was bound to happen someday, he couldn’t have lived on like this without ever facing the repercussions of it. He barely ate and never took food from either one of his friends, studied to the point of exhaustion and got up only a few hours later to work himself to death before he did it all over again. There was something admirable in his determination and ambition to get out of this life, but Ronan mused that it was going to be the death of him one day. And that day seemed to arrive sooner than he predicted.

The moment Adam hit the floor, all sound in the crowded Aglionby hallway vanished. Ronan could only hear his frantic heartbeat and the steady pulse of his feet hitting the ground. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he sensed Gansey followed him, but he couldn’t pay attention to his frantic yelling right now. The only thing on his mind was the unconscious boy in front of him.

Adam was pale, his freckles a stark contrast against his skin.

Ronan never found a better moment to pray.

_Please, not him._

Ronan checked his pulse when he came closer, the steady thrum of it making him steadier just a bit. He gently rolled Adam over to his side and curled his legs up, Adam’s arms positioned in front of him. Ronan tried to remember what else you had to do when someone fainted but he didn’t get further then: make sure he doesn’t bite his tongue off, make sure he doesn’t choke on his tongue, and he could be unconscious for fifteen minutes before you need to raise alarm. 

Fifteen unbearable minutes.

“He needs water and something to eat,” Ronan said, addressing Gansey. “Something with a shitload of sugar.”

Gansey slipped from a frightened boy into his presidential role, looking nothing like a boy anymore. “Should I get the nurse?”

“Get the stuff first,” Ronan replied thoughtfully. He gently wiped a strand of hair from Adam’s warm face. “In case he wakes up.”

Gansey nodded and speeded down the hallway. It was then that Ronan realised there was a crowd forming around the two of them. All eager eyes looking at the boy on the floor. 

“Show’s over,” Ronan snarled menacingly. He had to protect Adam as best as he could. He would hate the commotion and these assholes didn’t care about him anyway.

People quickly scattered at Ronan’s tone, knowing it was a bad idea to mess with the most dangerous person at Aglionby. Though, they couldn’t be blamed for their curiosity he supposed; they had probably never seen him treat someone so gently as he treated Adam just now.

By the time the hallway cleared, Gansey was back, handing Ronan the supplies he had found in a very short time.

  
“I also brought a wet towel,” Gansey said, handing Ronan the towel, careful not to drip anything on either him or Adam. “He looks like he’s burning up.”

He did. 

Ronan gently placed his hand on Adam’s forehead which was starting to burn up. He could see the sweat marks on his blazer and motioned to Gansey. “Help me get this off.”

With great care, they took the blazer off and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his white dress shirt. His skin was clammy and still too pale.

“Four minutes.”

Ronan looked up to Gansey who was checking his watch and nodded in acknowledgement. He couldn’t show what he was really thinking. That he was worried Adam might never wake up. That he couldn’t lose him too. That this reminded him of his father, lying motionless on the floor and the feeling of helplessness it evoked. 

Adam started to stir then, his eyes fluttering open slowly.

“Wha-“

He tried to sit up but Ronan pushed him down softly. “Easy, Parrish.”

“What happened?”

Adam sounded slow and completely out of it. Gansey watched in concern and announced that he was getting a nurse before running off again.

  
Ronan helped Adam slowly sit up against the lockers and handed him the water bottle.

“Who is the president of the United States?”

“What?”

Ronan huffed. “You need to ask some stupid ass trivia question to check if you didn’t hit your head too hard.”

“Don’t make me say it,” Adam moaned, leaning his head back against the lockers, pressing his head against the cool metal of it.

Ronan grinned.

He was going to be okay.

After forcing him to eat some sugary candy Gansey had probably gotten from the vending machine down the hall, the nurse came running with Gansey. Adam was ordered to spend some time in the nurse’s office before he was to head home. Gansey and Ronan were, in their places, ordered to go to class.

An order Ronan was not going to follow.

He was waiting for Adam when he was released out of the office around an hour later. He walked next to Ronan on his way to the parking lot without too much preamble.

_He must feel really bad if he skips class without protesting_ , Ronan thought to himself, eyeing Adam warily.

“You’re not driving,” Ronan said resolutely, before ushering Adam into his own car. “And I don’t want to hear no, you just passed out, Parrish.”

Adam nodded and stepped into Ronan’s BMW, leaning his head against the glass window next to him. Ronan kept the volume of the radio low and drove the correct speed limit for once. He figured Adam has had enough stimulations for one day.

As Ronan dropped him off by ST. Agnes, Adam mumbled a quiet thank you and stepped out of the car. He probably didn’t expect Ronan to follow him but he didn’t seem too surprised either. He walked in front of Ronan on the stairs, Ronan staying behind him in case he fell again on purpose.

Maybe Ronan couldn’t admit it to anyone but himself, but watching Adam fall was one of the scariest things he had witnessed. This beautiful boy who seemed so invincible and strong could fall just like the rest of them.

Adam may look otherworldly but he was human who could be harmed. _Who could die._

Adam held the door open for him as he walked into the small apartment and let himself fall on his mattress for a moment. Ronan sat down next to him on the floor, thinking about how he could start this conversation. 

Nothing seemed to be right.

“Adam,” Adam turned to look at him at the sound of his name. “You need to take better care of yourself.”

“With your charity, you mean?” Adam snapped, his faced more closed off than Ronan had seen in weeks.

_Don’t get angry, Lynch._

But there was no stopping the nasty curl in his stomach or the heat that shot through his entire body. It wasn’t Adam’s fault he didn’t have everything to be completely healthy and it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t want help, but _God_ he needed him to be safe.

Ronan didn’t respond. He just cradled his head in his hands and tried everything in his might to not explode, to not hurt Adam with the sharp shards that would come off of that explosion. Everything to not burst into tears about what could have happened.

He felt a featherlight touch to his shoulder.

“Ronan?”

Maybe if he didn’t turn around, Adam would keep touching him.

“Hey,” Adam said softly, turning him around himself.

“I was scared.”

Ronan Niall Lynch doesn’t lie.

Adam knew that and maybe he sensed his pain, or saw it in his eyes because he completely softened.

“I’m sorry,” Adam whispered, leaning his head against Ronan’s shoulder. Ronan felt the head through his shirt, seeping into his bones and warming every other part of his body.

They sat like this until the sun began to set and he convinced Adam to eat something, to take the night off and go to sleep. Adam didn’t object for once.

They slept next to each other like they always did, Ronan on the floor and Adam next to him on the mattress. Ronan couldn’t help but check on Adam more than he normally did. He had to make sure Adam was okay again, that he was breathing and his heart was pumping. That he wouldn’t leave Adam as many had before him.

Adam found his hand in the darkness.

Maybe he would be okay. Maybe they would both be. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are much appreciated! 
> 
> (I'm clawsnbeak on Tumblr so you can find me there)


End file.
